GG: 402 The Long Way
by me11
Summary: Second episode in my S4. Rory works, Emily visits, Lane has a plan and a JavaJunkie moment...
1. Teaser

4.02 - The Long Way  
  
Previously on Gilmore Girls:  
  
"Mama turns to me and says: 'Lane, maybe you should put off college for a year as well and focus on the band, you should be committed to the things that you start'," Lane tells Rory. "Maybe I could go to Connecticut State, or even Worthington. I got accepted at both of those."  
  
"Luke called today," Caesar tells Lorelai and Rory. "He's coming back Thursday" "Isn't he supposed to be on a cruise?" asks Lorelai. "Well, apparently he and Nicole decided not to go on it. They're driving back, left this morning."  
  
"Luke can't bring himself to commit to anyone - me or even Rachel - because he's always holding back on the hope that he'll get a chance with you. That maybe you'll wake up and realize that he's in love with you, and maybe you'll see him as more than just Luke the coffee guy," Nicole tells a confused Lorelai.  
  
"I'm doing a few shifts a week at the Photo Hut. Extra money for school," Rory tells Luke.  
  
Teaser  
  
Lorelai and Rory are walking down the street towards the town square. "Well, now that all of the pomp and circumstance is over we can get back to normal now," Lorelai sighed, gesturing to the various people around the square removing 4th of July decorations.  
  
"Which means what exactly? Stars Hollow isn't exactly normal to begin with," Rory replied.  
  
"True," Lorelai agreed. "Well, at least now we can start planning for the next town festival."  
  
"Which is?" Rory asked.  
  
"Um.probably something stupid like Friday Appreciation Day."  
  
"Hey!" Rory protested. "I had fun at that one! So did you, don't you remember? You said that we should have Friday Appreciation Day every week. You even got Luke to wear that 'I love Fridays' tee shirt."  
  
"Oh yeah," Lorelai snapped her fingers. "That was a great day, we should have another one soon."  
  
"You can bring it up at the meeting tonight," Rory suggested.  
  
"What? It's town meeting night already? Didn't we just have one last week?" Lorelai asked.  
  
"Yeah but that was an emergency meeting that Taylor called about the 4th of July fireworks fiasco. This one tonight is the actual meeting for July," Rory explained.  
  
"You're right, this town isn't normal," Lorelai said in a stage whisper.  
  
"Maybe we should move," Rory chimed in.  
  
"Where?"  
  
"Hartford?"  
  
"No, my mother lives there," Lorelai scowled.  
  
"Boston?"  
  
"No, Sherri lives there," Lorelai gagged.  
  
"New York?"  
  
"Bad traffic."  
  
"Seattle?"  
  
"Too much rain."  
  
"Atlanta?"  
  
"No, I don't like grits."  
  
"You don't have to eat grits in Atlanta," Rory pointed out. "Do they even eat grits in Atlanta?"  
  
Lorelai shrugged. "Oh well, not Atlanta."  
  
"Alright, how about we stay in Stars Hollow?"  
  
"Sounds like a plan," Lorelai agreed.  
  
"Good, I hate moving," Rory nodded in agreement.  
  
"All that packing, bleh! Let's just go get some coffee," Lorelai decided she needed to caffinate. Rory nodded in agreement.  
  
Roll Credits.  
  
A/N: I have written the next part, just have to type it up when I get the time. Should be up tonight (before I go to work.) Thanks to all of those who reviewed 4.01..you guys rock! 


	2. Act One

Act 1  
  
"Alright everyone, I must once again bring up the issue of the overwhelming amount of deer that are terrorizing the town," Taylor bellowed out to the crowd of people gathered in Ms. Patty's studio for the town meeting. He banged his gavel suddenly, causing everyone in the front row to jump. "Lorelai! May I ask what is so important that you feel the need to talk through the whole meeting?" he was irritated.  
  
"Absolutely, you may ask," Lorelai called out in reply.  
  
"Well," he pressed. "What is it?"  
  
"Oh," she said flippantly. "I was just saying that it was pretty dumb of you to suggest trying to kill the little deer."  
  
"Yeah, that's sick," Rory chimed in.  
  
"I mean, they're just deer," Lorelai continued. "They don't hurt anything."  
  
"Have you seen Bambi, Taylor?" Rory said. "People don't like those who kill deer." The crowd murmured in agreement.  
  
"I think it's animal cruelty," Lorelai said. "We should report it."  
  
"It would be interesting to see how the city council would react to the town magistrate trying to kill a bunch of helpless deer," Luke added gruffly from where he was sitting beside Lorelai and Rory. "Why, you might be forced to resign."  
  
Taylor looked non-pulsed for a minute. "Okay, are there any other issues?" he saw Lorelai's hand shoot up. "Besides the Friday festival?" Lorelai put her hand down. No one brought anything else up. "Alright, dismissed," Taylor banged his gavel and everyone jumped again.  
  
"Rory!" Lindsay called through the crowd of people who were filing out of the studio. Rory stopped walking to let her catch up.  
  
"I'll catch up," she told Lorelai and Luke, who kept walking without her and went into the diner, probably to caffinate Lorelai.  
  
"Hey," Lindsay panted. "How are you?"  
  
"Hi, I'm okay," Rory replied. "You?"  
  
"Fine," she smiled. "Um, do you have a minute? There's something I want to ask you."  
  
"Okay, um.the gazebo?" Rory led the way.  
  
"Oh, and thanks so much for the magazine and gift," Lindsay said, sounding quite sincere. "I'm glad we're getting along. I have to admit that I was a bit bitchy to you because I thought you'd go after Dean."  
  
"Dean and I are just friends," Rory said seriously.  
  
"I know that now, I was just being a brat," she smiled in spite of herself. "I know that you and Dean are friends. We both talked about it and he really values your friendship a lot, he wants you to be a part of his life. I think that's probably a good idea; I mean, I have other friends, so why shouldn't he? You were such a big part of his life for so long.  
Anyway, if it isn't too weird for you, would you like to be one of my bridesmaids?" she finished hopefully.  
  
Rory looked stunned for a minute. "I," she started and cleared her throat. "Are you sure that wouldn't be weird for YOU?"  
  
Lindsay looked thoughtful. "At first, when Dean said he wanted you to be in our lives, I was skeptical," she admitted. "I know you're his friend, and after I thought about it I realized that we would probably get along with each other too if we tried.  
Asking you to be a bridesmaid was my idea, not his. Since you can't be a groomsman I figured that it was the logical choice. I really would love it if you could."  
  
Rory paused. "Okay, sure," she laughed. Lindsay squealed and hugged her.  
  
"Great!" Lindsay cried. "Well, the wedding's at the end of August, so we're having dress fittings on Wednesday at noon. Can you make it?"  
  
"Yes, you bet," Rory smiled. "Where?"  
  
"That bridal store in Hartford, the one on Maple Street," Lindsay told her and Rory nodded. "Okay, I should go, I'm supposed to meet Dean. I'll see you Wednesday."  
  
"Bye," Rory said as she dashed off. Rory sat in the gazebo for a few more minutes, thinking about what had just happened. Eventually she got up and headed across the street to Luke's to join Luke and her mother.  
  
Commercial Break. 


	3. Act Two

Act 2  
  
Lane Kim was pacing her room, wringing her hands together, and trying to work up the courage to talk to her mother. She'd finally made a decision about school and was ready to let her mother know.  
  
Lane had decided that she was going to go to Worthington for school. She'd talked to the rest of the members in the band, still unnamed, and since none of them had school plans, they were making tentative plans to move to Boston in the fall. The guys planned on renting a house in Boston, she of course would be staying in the dorms.  
  
Lane opened the door to her room and marched determinedly down the stairs to the kitchen where she found her mother. "Mama, can I talk to you?" Lane asked, trying to sound confident.  
  
"What is it?" her mother asked, voice sharp. Mrs. Kim stopped working and looked at Lane expectantly.  
  
"Mama," Lane started. "I've decided what to do about school; I'm going to Worthington." Mrs. Kim didn't say anything so Lane continued, worried she would say no. "I've been offered a partial scholarship and have some money saved up. My college fund money from Grandma and Grandpa Kim should cover the rest of the tuition. I would of course have to live in Boston, but I would come home on weekends to help out in the store, if you need me to."  
  
Mrs. Kim looked at Lane for a moment then turned back to her work. "Fine," she said, her tone dismissing her daughter. Lane looked surprised as she scampered from the room.  
  
* * *  
  
"So she didn't say anything else?" Rory asked Lane later that day as she and Lane walked into Doose's for junk food.  
  
"No she just said 'fine'," Lane replied, sounding quite worried.  
  
"Weird," Rory remarked. She picked up some chips and dip from the shelf. "Do you think she's up to something?"  
  
"I'm not sure.do you think the guys would like corn chips?" Lane asked, referring to her band mates who were waiting back at Rory's garage.  
  
"Who wouldn't?" Rory feined shock. She checked her watch. "Oh, I have to go, I start work in ten minutes."  
  
"Oh yeah," Lane remembered. "How's the Photo Hut life?" Lane paid Taylor for the food.  
  
"It's not bad, I don't really do a whole lot, just run the register. But the money's nice and I get to read when there's no customers," Rory smiled.  
  
"Sounds cool," Lane agreed. "See you later!" Rory waved as they went their separate ways.  
  
"Hi Manny," Rory greeted, slipping on her vest and taking her place behind the cash register.  
  
"Hey Rory," Manny replied, picking up a pile of folders. "I have to go speak with Taylor about some new permits he's insisting we have. I'm leaving now, Kirk's in the back. Don't forget to put the money in the safe when you lock up tonight."  
  
"Okay, see you," Rory said as he left. After straightening out her work area, she quickly performed her opening duties then said a quick hello to Kirk. Once there were no customers left, she settled down with a book to pass the time.  
  
After about twenty minutes, the bell rang above the door, signaling that a customer had just entered the store. Rory put her book down and greeted her. "Grandma!" she said surprised. "Hi."  
  
"Hello Rory," Emily greeted pleasantly. "How are you dear?"  
  
"I'm fine, thank you," Rory replied politely. "What are you doing here? Do you have pictures?"  
  
"Oh, no dear," Emily replied. "I just stopped by to say hello. I was planning on visiting your mother." Rory looked curious. "One of my fellow DAR members has a son who expressed interest in your mother and I was hoping to set up a date for them," Emily explained.  
  
Rory tried to hide her skeptical look. "Well, she should be home now, I'm here until nine though," she finally spit out.  
  
"Alright then," Emily moved to go. "I'll see you on Friday then. Bye Rory."  
  
"Bye Grandma," Rory called after her and returned to her book.  
  
"Was that a customer?" Kirk asked, emerging from the back.  
  
"No, it was just my Grandma."  
  
"Did she bring film?"  
  
"No, she wants to set my mom up with a guy she knows."  
  
"Really," Kirk looked interested. "I'm just asking because I myself am available this weekend. I know that Lorelai and I tried dating in the past and I just wanted her to know that I have matured since then. I think that should we attempt to date again it would be more successful. Just let her know."  
  
Rory blinked. "Okay, I'll do that."  
  
"Thanks," Kirk returned to the back. Rory snickered quietly then returned once again to her book.  
  
Commercial Break. 


	4. Act Three

Act 3  
  
Lorelai bopped her head slightly to the song she was humming. She was getting ready to go to Luke's for dinner, and for some reason, which she wasn't ready to admit, was taking more care than usual on her appearance. The doorbell rang and she gave herself one last look over as she went downstairs to answer it.  
  
She opened the door. "Mom!" Lorelai greeted Emily, quite surprised to see her there.  
  
"Hell Lorelai," Emily smiled at her. After a few seconds of Lorelai staring at her in shock Emily continued. "May I come in?"  
  
"Oh," Lorelai shook herself, and stepped out of the doorway to make room for Emily to enter. "I'm sorry, of course. Come on in."  
  
"You're all dressed up," Emily remarked, taking in Lorelai's outfit. "Were you going somewhere?"  
  
"Not really, just out to dinner," Lorelai answered, sitting on the couch. "Sit down."  
  
"On a date?" Emily asked, sitting. "If this is a bad time."  
  
"No, it's okay," Lorelai replied. "I was just going to Luke's."  
  
"To Luke's, so it is a date then."  
  
"No, Mom. It's Luke's, I go there all the time."  
  
"So you don't have a date with this Luke man?"  
  
"No!" Lorelai was annoyed.  
  
"Oh, okay then," she drifted off momentarily. "It's just that you seem to be quite dressed up."  
  
"I'm not dressed up," Lorelai cried, though she knew that she actually was. "I always dress like this."  
  
"You always wear a dress and those sandals to dinner? At a diner?" Emily sounded skeptical.  
  
Lorelai's mouth opened and closed, no sound coming out. Finally: "What's up mom? To what do I owe this visit?"  
  
Emily smiled. "Yes, well, I recently spoke with Maureen Montgomery, from my DAR group, and it seems that her son Geoffrey noticed you at Rory's graduation and expressed an interest in meeting you.  
  
"No," Lorelai said bluntly.  
  
"Excuse me?" Emily looked affronted.  
  
"I'm not going to let you set me up with another DAR kid, these dates never go well," Lorelai explained. "Besides, I'd have to get all dressed up and talk about boring politics and stuff that I don't care about to some lame guy who doesn't even know who Weezer is. And, he's probably some snobby rich guy who was very spoiled as a child."  
  
"Lorelai, not every person that I know is a snob," Emily sighed. "And I thought that you liked dressing up for dinner."  
  
"Not for a snobby socialite who picked me out of a crowd at my daughter's graduation - what was he even doing there anyway?" Lorelai huffed.  
  
"His nephew was graduating from Chilton as well," Emily answered her. "And how come you're not willing to dress up for dinner with Geoffrey Montgomery but you will to eat dinner at Luke's diner?"  
  
"Because. I'm not dressed up!" Lorelai pouted. "I should just go put some jeans on."  
  
"No, you look lovely in that," Emily assured her.  
  
"Thanks Mom," Lorelai sighed.  
  
"So," Emily began, trying to make her voice sound innocent. "Do you often dress up for Luke?"  
  
"No Mom! Why would I dress up for Luke?" Lorelai sighed again. "I only dress up for special occasions, and Friday night dinners or big dates." She paused. "And I'm not dressed up for Luke!"  
  
"What do you mean special occasions?" Emily asked her.  
  
"What? Duh, like special occasions," Lorelai didn't know what part of special occasions Emily didn't understand. "You know, holidays or parties, weddings, graduations."  
  
"Oh yes, that's right." Emily trailed off.  
  
"What's right?"  
  
"Luke was at Rory's graduation."  
  
"Um, yes he was." Lorelai didn't see where Emily was going with that.  
  
"I just found it odd is all," Emily continued; she had an idea starting in her head, and those Gilmore's were all very stubborn.  
  
"Why was it odd?"  
  
"Well it's just that if you're not involved with him then why was he there?"  
  
"Why?" Lorelai looked shocked. "Because, he's.well, he's Luke!"  
  
"What does that mean?"  
  
"Because he's our friend, and Rory wanted him there and he wanted to go."  
  
"He did?"  
  
"Of course, he loves Rory. He's known her since she was a just a little Gilmore," Lorelai defended, a fact that escaped her attention but not Emily's.  
  
"So, you're saying that he feels some sort of attachment to Rory?"  
  
"Yes!" Lorelai cried, thinking that her mother FINALLY understood what she was saying. "You should have seen him at the ceremony.oh, and the look on his face when I told him that our Rory got into three Ivy League schools!"  
  
"Our Rory?"  
  
"Huh, what?"  
  
"Our Rory?"  
  
"Yea, you know, my Rory."  
  
"Which did you say to him: 'our Rory' or 'my Rory'?" Emily asked her.  
  
Lorelai was silent for a moment while she tried to remember exactly what she said. Upon the realization that she had indeed said 'my Rory, well OUR Rory' to him, she got flustered. "I think I said our.does this really matter?"  
  
"I suppose not," Emily said, holding back a smile.  
  
"So," Lorelai tried to change the subject. "Would you like a drink?"  
  
"No, thank you," Emily replied, standing up from the couch and picking her purse up off of the coffee table. "I must be going." She stopped and then quickly sat back down, purse in hand. "So, Rory likes this Luke man?"  
  
"Yes!" Lorelai sighed in frustration, throwing herself back on the couch. "And please stop calling him 'this Luke man'!"  
  
"Well," Emily asked from her place on the Gilmore couch. "How do you fell about Luke?"  
  
Lorelai was suddenly very quiet, and even Emily noticed the tension in her as she was obviously thinking. "Mom," she said, all of a sudden very timid, and obviously dealing with a mental debate. "I don't know.but, I think there might be something there." Emily was shocked at Lorelai's sudden truthfulness. Lorelai looked like she wanted to say more, but was hesitant to do so.  
  
Emily sat her purse back down and made herself more comfortable on the couch; or at least as comfortable as a woman like Emily would allow herself to get. "Yes?" she asked Lorelai, her tone for once so undemanding that Lorelai couldn't help but answer her. Contrary to what Lorelai may believe, Emily was not completely clueless as to what her daughter was thinking.  
  
"It's just," Lorelai began, unsure if she was ready to talk about Luke, and untrusting because of past experiences with her mother. "Luke is.well, he's Luke. That's a good thing, and a bad thing. On the one hand, he's this guy that I've been friends with for years, who's listened to me complain about the various men in my life, and disliked most of those that I cared about. We disagree about everything and argue all of the time. He knows all of my worst secrets, and how I can't seem to commit to anyone, and neither can he.  
But on the other hand, he's this guy that I've been friends with for years! He loves Rory, and he takes care of us; feeds us, fixes things for us, keeps me us in coffee - but he hates coffee! He comforts me after my breakups, he hit Dean when he hurt Rory. He hated Max, and didn't want to come to the wedding, but he made me a chuppa so I had an archway to get married under."  
  
"He did?" Emily sounded surprised.  
  
"Yeah," Lorelai smiled slightly. "He said that it should be perfect, because you only get married once. for some reason, after that, I couldn't bring myself to marry Max. And he tried to give Jess a home, no matter what the kid did to throw that away."  
  
"He sounds like a good man," Emily agreed. "Have you spoken to him about any of this?"  
  
"No, I've been afraid to bring it up.he just broke things off with Nicole."  
  
"Who's Nicole?" Emily asked.  
  
"Nicole.she's," Lorelai paused, not quite knowing the right way to describe Nicole. "This woman that he was seeing until a couple of weeks ago. I talked to her just afterwards, she told me some stuff about Luke.about how he feels about me."  
  
"How does she think he feels about you?" Emily asked, unsure if this Nicole's opinion was reliable.  
  
"According to Nicole.he's interested," Lorelai replied, thinking briefly about how 'interested' didn't seem to be a good enough word to describe the feelings between her and Luke.  
  
Emily nodded, unsure of what to way. It was a rare moment, as both Lorelai and Emily sat together quietly on the couch, lost in their own thoughts.  
  
Commercial break.. 


	5. Act FourCloser

Act 4/Closer  
  
Later that night, Lorelai walked down the streets of Star's Hollow. She was still wearing her dress and the sandals from before, but hadn't yet gone to the diner. It was a little too late anyway, after nine, and Rory was already home. After talking to her daughter for a few minutes, she decided to go for a walk, allowing Rory to only imagine her reasons.  
  
Her mother's words kept ringing through her head.  
  
.how do you feel about Luke.  
  
Her feet dragged her to the gazebo, where she sat quietly, She wasn't sure how much time had passed before she noticed that she had company. "Hey," she greeted, moving slightly to the left to make room.  
  
"Hey," Luke smiled at her. He sat down and handed her one of the two takeout cups he was holding. "What's going through that head of yours?"  
  
She smiled, not remembering the last time that Luke asked her what she was thinking. "Too much," she joked and was rewarded with a slight chuckle from Luke. "Thanks for the coffee."  
  
"You're welcome," he said, and took a sip of his drink. From the scent, she guessed that it was peppermint tea. "Missed you at dinner tonight," he noted.  
  
"Yeah, my mom stopped by," Lorelai laughed. "She distracted me."  
  
"From food?" Luke joked. "Must be something big." She scowled playfully at him. "So, what's new with Emily?" he took another sip of his tea.  
  
"Nothing, she wanted to set me up with some son of one of her fellow DAR members," Lorelai rolled her eyes. "I told he no; obviously she doesn't remember the fiasco with Auction-guy."  
  
Luke laughed slightly, and then they fell into silence again. Finally, Luke blurted out: "You look nice.the dress I mean," he looked incredulous that he'd say something like that to her. "Did you have a date or something?"  
  
"No," she smiled, both at his expense and at the fact that he'd complimented her. "I was just going to eat at the diner."  
  
"Oh," he said, then joked. "Who were you trying to impress?"  
  
Lorelai looked down at her lap and blushed. Luke glanced at her and noticed her reddened cheeks, and that she was uncharacteristically silent. His cheeks turned a similar color when he realized what she was implying. They sat quietly for a minute, both unsure of what to say.  
  
"Luke?" she finally asked quietly.  
  
"Yeah?" he replied, his voice low and uncertain.  
  
"Walk me home?" her voice was timid. Luke smiled slightly and they both stood, and slowly began to walk nervously, not quite touching but close enough to stay warm, as if they were young again. They took the long way to Lorelai's, around the town square, in a comfortable silence the whole time.  
  
End.  
  
Next time, on Gilmore Girls:  
  
"We're going to Boston for the weekend," Lane tells Rory. "You should come with us."  
  
"Hi Dad," Rory gives Christopher a hug.  
  
"I talked to Nicole," Lorelai fidgets as she talks to Luke.  
  
"I think we need to talk about this!" Lorelai cries as she follows Luke into the store room.  
  
A/N: I know this one was short, but I'm already writing 4.03 and it looks like it's going to be longer. Stay tuned, and thanks again to all of those who reviewed. 


End file.
